The Dubai Financial Market Company reported a decline in revenue during the first quarter despite substantial trading activity on the emirate's stock market, with profits for the period undershooting analysts' estimates.
The Arabian Gulf's only publicly traded stock exchange, DFM Company generated net income of Dh27 million in the first quarter of this year, a decline of 11.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. Analysts' estimates were for profits of Dh51.6m.
"DFM has started the year 2013 on a very positive mode with trading value jumping by 300 per cent in January," said Essa Kazim, the exchange's chief executive.
However, a bounce in market volumes during the first quarter did not translate into higher revenues. Trading commission is the main source of income for the company.
Revenues fell 5 per cent to Dh65.7m during the quarter in comparison with the corresponding period a year earlier.
The exchange industry worldwide has seen margins eroded as financial firms desert equities in favour of derivatives trading and fixed income, with many bourses seeking consolidation.
For its part, DFM Company has sought to boost liquidity on its own exchange through licensing of six firms for margin trading.
The exchange had also benefited during the quarter from a rush of sukuk listings, said Abdul Jalil YousufDarwish, the DFM Company's chairman, during months when Dubai set out to become the capital of Islamic economy.
"DFM and Nasdaq Dubai sukuk listings have gained momentum during the first quarter of this year with listings from government of Dubai, Emirates and Dewa [Dubai Electricity and Water Authority] lifting the nominal value of sukuk listings on Dubai exchanges to $11.6 billion, the third biggest sukuk listing platform globally," he said.
During the first quarter, stocks on the DFM General Index rose 12.7 per cent. Gains on the index have since risen to 33.2 per cent on a year-to-date basis, making Dubai the third-best performing market globally.
The average daily value of stocks traded over the same period was Dh334m, an increase of 4.3 per cent compared with the same period during 2012, pointing to a compression on the bourse's trading margins.
ghunter@thenational.ae
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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